Side Airbag deployment with No accident

[McRat]

Note: This is not GM's fault. I'm not convinced automakers want to deal with 10 airbags. They are there for the government and the lawyers.

[JCunningham]

does the government tell them they have to make them go off at 1g?

[Pluto]

so then what about the z28 and zl1 models? they claim beefed up this and that and recommend drag radials and such for the zl1...if theyre recomending all that crap its kind of stupid for air bags to go off....if i pay 40000 or 80000 for a car ive already "paid to play" this is absolutely ridiculous that anyone is trying to justify this...espescially with that stupid "pay to play" saying

[Z28COP]

[Michael R.]

All the side airbag incidents on Camaros I've heard about were MY 2011!

Any incidents on later MYs?

Sucks that this happens :-(

Cheers from Germany

Michael

[ninjamaster5000]

Originally Posted by Michael R.

All the side airbag incidents on Camaros I've heard about were MY 2011!

Any incidents on later MYs?

Sucks that this happens :-(

Cheers from Germany

Michael

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...62&postcount=1

At the end of this post, the OP lists some camaros that this happened to. There are 2011's and 2010's on this list.

I think I read something about the airbag system being changed for the ZL1 and z28 camaro, but I'm not 100% sure on that, especially since it was just a forum post, not an official post.

[wadeh]

I've read reports of this from time to time and it always amazes me that people will try to rationalize this as not a defect because "the sensors were just doing what they were designed to do".

What's happening here is a spontaneous deployment of an airbag not caused by an accident or impact. When this happens, it could cause an accident, with potentially aggravated consequences because the airbag would not be available to protect the occupant of the vehicle. This is far more serious than a problem with the key (Hey, the key thing is not a defect. The key turned and the car shut off. It had no way of knowing that it was a knee and not a hand that turned the key.)

The only reasons that this has not been fixed through a recall (forget warranty, errant airbag deployment is serious stuff), is that nobody has been hurt...yet, and the media has not picked it up.

Once this happens, GM will have to deal with it. That they've been unusually stubborn about refusing to fix what is an obviously serious defect suggests to me that they're trying to avoid setting a precedent because they know that they've got a problem here. If they have redesigned it for the 2012 and newer cars, that's an even bigger indication of this.

[ninjamaster5000]

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs...4-cc436b8f1706

Interesting article. There have been at least 19 instances as of 2012 including Camaros and CTS-Vs.

"At least three Camaro coupes, including one tested by Edmunds last year and another by Canadian automotive site Sympatico in 2010, blew their side curtain airbags during standard performance tests. "

"In May, GM recalled 4,304 2013 Chevrolet Malibus to reprogram the airbag sensing and diagnostic module, which detects whether crash forces are sufficient to deploy the airbags. In the recall, which began in June, GM said that after hard braking, the module can "reset itself" and cause the curtain airbags to deploy "during an aggressive turning maneuver.""

In the article, they say similar things happen to Mercedes Benz (no airbags but seatbelts cinch and seat moves), Hummer, Hyundai Elantra, and Chevy Avalanche.

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by ninjamaster5000

yeah. Autocross. It happened on the third lap of my first run. But I kept going and came in .06 seconds behind an SS.
It was my first autocross, but I don't feel like doing it again after this, at least not with my car.

Your car wasn't designed for racing , in the eyes off GM you are out of luck
Specially after admitting to it in here , they look into things around here if needed

[ninjamaster5000]

Originally Posted by oldfriend

Your car wasn't designed for racing , in the eyes off GM you are out of luck
Specially after admitting to it in here , they look into things around here if needed

Yeah, it's a poser car. Not suited for the track. But since I've seen it occurring with '10-'11 camaro models, GM must have seen this problem and fixed it for later model years.

And I don't mind admitting I was autocrossing the car. I'm not a liar, and the car called Onstar when it happened so they must have the GPS coordinates.

I've said it before, and I'll say again: Just because it happens in an autocross doesn't mean it can't happen on the street in an emergency situation. The car is a poser death trap.

[ratfinkharley]

Originally Posted by ninjamaster5000

The car is a poser death trap.

If you really feel that way, then sell it and buy a Volvo.

[2013 ZL1 #7860]

On my 2012 FJ Cruiser, you can deactivate the side airbags for offroad use. So that on extreme body angles the aribags won't go off thinking you are rolling over.

Why can't this be accomplished in a Camaro?

If Toyota can afford the liability of having a side airbag "deactivation" switch from the factory, so can Chevrolet...

Maybe the easiest way to accomplish this is for GM to have an Onstar "race package"?Where the Onstar user would call and notify Onstar that the car is being used on the track and the side impact airbags should be deactivated and that no emergency call will be required if the car is in an accident or sets off the pitch and yaw sensors? Might not require any changes to the existing cars at all, just an additional feature that the Onstar subscription provides to the user?

By making such a call and having Onstar record it, the recording could be used by Gm to avoid any liability associated with an on track crash or even an on road crash because the owner was recorded as "specifically requesting the side airbags be deactivated for track use only". (which is not covered by normal insurance or "warranty" claims)

The owner would want to make the call so that the airbags don't go off, possibly putting them in danger and causing 5K worth of repairs to the car for no reason. Is this possible, Onstar technology wise?

[macwest]

Originally Posted by oldfriend

Your car wasn't designed for racing , in the eyes off GM you are out of luck
Specially after admitting to it in here , they look into things around here if needed

BY GM's own words the camaro is suppose to be able to go to the track. They have produced a number of models all of which they claimed are track capable and they have encouraged buyers to track their car, !LE, Z/28 and ZL1. They have not discouraged any other model from racing. IN fact they have claimed to cover warranties when racing. Because GM has advertised this is normal behavior for a camaro then they have basic responsibility the car works for this particular purpose.

In general a person should not expect air bags to deploy if they have not hit an object but to take this further, at a race track a buyer should have reasonably expectations that an airbag will not deploy if a camaro is going around the track and does not hit any object.

In this situation the camaro did not work for its intended purpose and GM does hold a responsibility.

If they had issues with the key imagine the class action lawsuit this can bring. What if you swerve on a freeway to avoid an object an an airbag deploys. sounds like this is more major then a simple key issue.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by macwest

BY GM's own words the camaro is suppose to be able to go to the track. They have produced a number of models all of which they claimed are track capable and they have encouraged buyers to track their car, !LE, Z/28 and ZL1. They have not discouraged any other model from racing. IN fact they have claimed to cover warranties when racing. Because GM has advertised this is normal behavior for a camaro then they have basic responsibility the car works for this particular purpose.

In general a person should not expect air bags to deploy if they have not hit an object but to take this further, at a race track a buyer should have reasonably expectations that an airbag will not deploy if a camaro is going around the track and does not hit any object.

In this situation the camaro did not work for its intended purpose and GM does hold a responsibility.

If they had issues with the key imagine the class action lawsuit this can bring. What if you swerve on a freeway to avoid an object an an airbag deploys. sounds like this is more major then a simple key issue.

I don't think they ever said the LS or LT models were designed for the track....or they would be covered if taken to the track.....